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Jacob Burak on FOMO

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Even with such interventions, the problem might be resolved only when we grasp that our brains and our humanity – not our technologies – enable this addiction, in the end. We cannot seek solutions without honestly asking ourselves why we are so afraid of missing out.

FOMO is a particularly fascinating subject for me. I'm not prone to it in the least in my offline world, but when it comes to my Twitter feed, it's a problem. This is precisely why I follow no more than 140 people on Twitter, and only browse my timeline at predetermined times.

Much has been made of the fear of missing out in the past few years, and rightly so. As we transition to an always-on world, we're only beginning to understand the effect of that transition. But though we might not study it, we can certainly feel the effects.

What's been missing in all the FOMO talk is an actual solution. We know the problem, but how do we overcome it? Jacob Burak finally answers that question, and it's simpler than you may think. It starts, as always, with understanding.